OTTAWA — Liberal members of Parliament are seeking to formally sever ties with the scandal-plagued Senate by having all references to senators removed from the party’s constitution.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau announced this week that he was dumping 32 senators from the Liberal caucus in an effort to eliminate partisanship and patronage, and return the upper chamber to its original purpose as a place of sober second thought.

But the Liberal party constitution still lists senators as members of caucus, as well as automatic delegates at party conventions. It also says there is supposed to be at least one senator always sitting on a powerful internal committee that helps develop Liberal election platforms, though the party said there hasn’t been an active senator on the committee in some time.

Deputy Liberal leader Ralph Goodale said removing all mentions of senators from the constitution is an administrative step needed to fulfil Trudeau’s vision of a less partisan Red Chamber.

“A number of things will have to be adjusted to implement the new reality,” said Goodale.

To formalize the move, Goodale, national caucus chair Francis Scarpaleggia, House leader Dominic Leblanc and House whip Judy Foote have written to Liberal Party president Mike Crawley asking the party’s national board of directors to start working to amend the constitution.

“The Constitution does identify clear roles and responsibilities for caucus which need to be adjusted to reflect our new caucus reality,” reads the letter, which was obtained from Trudeau’s office.

“We urge the National Board to develop a process for amending the (Liberal Party of Canada) Constitution to remove reference to Senators and to operate immediately in a manner that is consistent with only elected Members of Parliament being part of the LPC National Caucus.”

The NDP accused Trudeau Friday of breaking his party’s own rules by unilaterally excluding senators from caucus without getting the Liberal constitution changed first.

Any constitutional amendment requires support from two-thirds of delegates at a national convention.

“I think this shows that the Liberal leader drew this up on the back of a napkin,” said NDP deputy leader Nathan Cullen. “What he suggested on Wednesday was illegal in his constitution. God help us if he ever has to interpret the Canadian constitution.”

But Liberals rushed to Trudeau’s defence, insisting the Liberal leader does indeed have the power to decide who is part of caucus.

“The constitution is clear in terms of the leader is the one that determines who is in caucus,” said Crawley. “It’s the leader’s purview to determine what comprises caucus.”

Either way, it could be several years before the change is formalized.

Any amendment requires support from two-thirds of delegates at a national convention, and while a convention will be held in Montreal in three weeks, the deadline for submitting proposed constitutional amendments has already passed.

Crawley said the board of directors will meet next week to discuss proposed amendments, and there are mechanisms in place to hold an emergency convention and amend the constitution, as happened following the 2011 federal election when the party agreed to put off the leadership race by two years.

But he didn’t believe there was a sense of urgency, and that the party could wait for the next Liberal convention in 2016.

“Can the party in practice operate in a way that’s aligned with the decision that’s been made, and constitutionalize those changes at the next convention?” he said. “My sense going in is that we will be able to do that, but we need to confirm that.”

Confusion had followed Trudeau’s announcement Wednesday that he was ejecting 32 senators from the party caucus.

The senators rebranded themselves the Senate Liberal caucus, and said Trudeau couldn’t stop them from calling themselves Liberals because he couldn’t strip them of their party membership.

Removing references to the senators from the constitution means they will remain members, but without any special standing in the party.

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